Machine for making steel-wool.



F. A. PATONA H. L. KOENIG.

" Patented Apr. 8

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hN I MN A N A A A fig A 9w NM 9 A A v @N NW Qw NN ww N N Q AM. w w @N wW @Mww b m NN m MW o mn P e mafi Wm w wm F UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANCIS n PATON AND HENRY L., KOENIG, or FITCHIBURG, MASSACHUSETTSASSIGNORS OF NINE-TENTHS T0 FREDERIC I. JOHNSON, OF FITCHBURG,

MASSACHUSETTS.

MACHINE F011 MAKING STEEL-WOOL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 8, 1919.

Application filed March 17, 1917. Serial No. 155,628.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, FRANCIS A. PATON, a citizen of the United States,and HENRY L. KOENIG, a subject of the Em eror of Germany, both residingat Fitch urg, in the county of Worcester and Commonwealth ofMassachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Machinesfor Making Steel-Wool, of which the following, together with theaccompanying drawings, is a specification.

The present invention relates to a machine designed for the productionof steel wool, and has particular reference to mechanism of this classwhich contemplates the successive removal of shavings from the surfaceof a steel wire, said shavings being of suitable fineness to constitute,when bunched together, in a mass, the product known as steel wool, whichis employed in a variety of uses as a cleaning and abrasive agent.

The invention resides in the provision of mechanism adapted to producesaid steel shavings at a rapid rate, by acting upon the entire outsidediameter of the wire material, and so arranged as to effect successivereductions in the diameter of said wire, each reduction being productiveof a quantity of shavings of the desired fineness. The inventioncontemplates the final reduction of the Wire material to such a smallsize that no more shavings can be removed therefrom,

the wire, when thus reduced in size still retaining its round crosssection and being itself a salable product of the machine.

. The foregoingand other objects of our invention are attained by themechanism constructed and operated as set forth in the followingdescription, reference being had in this connection to the accompanyingdrawings, in which Figure 1 is a side View of our machine, the partsbeing shown assembled and in operation.

Fig. 2 is a view showing certain of the parts in end elevation.

Figs. 3, '4, and 5 are views illustrating various sizes and forms ofcutting and shaping devices employed in our mechanism for the productonof steel shavings.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts in the differentfigures.

support 1. The brackets 2 afford slots or recesses for the reception ofholders 3, which are detachably held in 'said slots by set screws 4, orthelike. Each holder 3 has a circular recess in one of its faces, saidrecesses communicating with apertures 5 opening on the other face ofeach holder for the free passage of the material or wiretherethrough.The recess in each holder 3 is provided for the reception of a flatcircular cutting or shaping device, of the form shown, for example, bythe devices 6, 7, and 8 of Figs. 3,4 and 5, respectively, such a devicefilling and fitting snugly within said recess, and detachably heldtherein by means of a set screw 9, which may engage a depression 10 onthe periphery of the device to hold the same firmly and rigidly inposition.

, At each end of the support 1, beyond the shown in Fig. 1, the wire 12is assumed to be traveling in the direction of the arrow A, said wirebeing drawn from a supply reel 13 at the left hand side of Fig. 1 andpassing between a pair of cylinders 14, 14, Whose surfaces arecorrugated longitudinally to obtain a bite on the Wire. The reel 13 isdriven through a pulley and belt connection 15 from a second reel 16,the latter having rotation imparted thereto in either direction, asdesired, from a belt 17 connected to a source of power, not shown. Themeans employed for reversing the direction of belt 17 to reverse, whendesired, the rotation of reels 13 and 16, forms no part of ourinvenrangement with those adjacent the reel 13, the surfaces of saidcylinders having cooperating longitudinal corrugations to obtain a biteon the wire in its passageto the reel 16.

The cylinders 14, 14, of each pair are adapted to be rotated in unisonthrough intermeshiiig spur gears 18, 18, the teeth of said gears beingsomewhat elongated and preferably meshing loosely, so as to permit of aslight relative movement of the cylinders toward and from each other ashereinafter described, while still maintaining the driving connectiontherebetween. inder 14 of each pair has its shaft 19 journaled in afixed bearing 20 on the frame member 21, said shaft 19 having a bevelgear connection 22 in each case with a shaft 23 which has a belt andpulley drive 24 with the shaft of the adjacent reel, namely, in one casereel 13 and in the other case reel 16. The shaft of the other cylinder14 of each pair is journaled in a bearing 25 which is slidable,transversely, in ways 26 of the framework, a spring 27 operating at alltimes to drawsaid sliding bearing and its cylinder 14 toward the othercylinder 14 of each pair, thus causing the longitudinal corrugations ofsaid cylinders to make contact with a wire 12 passing therebetween,irrespective of the diameter of said wire.

In the operation of the mechanism, assuming that a supply of wire to bereduced is carried by the reel 13, such wire is threaded through thecutters and shapers' carried by the several holders 3, and passedbetween the two pairs of cooperating cylinders 14, and in thisdisposition it is ready to be wound up on the reel 16. For operation inthis direction, as indicated by the arrow A, Fig. 1, the left handholder 3 in Fig. 1 carries in its recess a shaping device such as thatshown by the numeral 6 in Fig. 3, there being an aperture. 28therethrough with a series of small triangular or pointed teeth 29formed .in the circumference of said aperture, the diameter at the baseof said teeth corresponding substantially to the diameter of the wire.The next holder 3 to the right will contain a cutting device, such asthat shown at 7 in Fig. 4, said device having a plain aperture 30therethrough corresponding in diameter substantially to the diameter atthe apex of the teeth 29 in Fig. 3. The third holder 3, if it is founddesirable to make still another reduction in the wire in the same draft,will havela shaping device in its recess, such as that shown by thenumeral 8,- in Fig. 5, the latter having a toothed aperture 31therethrough, with the diameter at the base of the teeth corre-vspending substantially to the diameter of the plain aperture 30, Fig. 4.

It will be understood that the drawing of the relatively soft steel wirethrough alter- One eyl-- nately toothed and plain shaping and cuttingapertures, as above described, will result in the production of shavingsof sufiicient fineness to constitute, when assembled, the desiredproduct, steel wool, the movement of the wire being effected, not onlyby the draft of reel 16 but by the bite of the two pairs of cylinders 14thereon, both pairs rotating in the proper direction to move the wire inthe direction of arrow A, Fig. 1. In the operation above described, thefirst shaping device 6, by the action of its teeth 29. removes a greatnumber of fine shavings from the surface of the wire, the latteremerging from said device 6 with its surface having a number of raisedportions formed by the scoring action of teeth 29. These raised portionsare shaved off or removed by the passage of the wire through theaperture 30, of cutting device 7, the shavings from this, as well asfrom the previous operation being collected, as they fall. in a suitablereceptacle, not shown. If desired, the Wire emerging from cutting device7, with an unscored surface, may be wound up on reel 16 without anyfurther reduction, or the shaping device 8 may be used to produce thesame result'on the reduced wire as the device 6, and if practicable,other alternating shaping and cutting devices gradually decreasing indiameter toward the end of the draft may be employed, it being clearthat our invention is not limited in any way to the number of successiveshaving operations which may take place in a single drawing of the wirethrough the machine.

In any event, after all the wire from reel 13 has been wound up on reel16, the cutting and shaping devices in the several holders 3 areremoved, said holders being reversed to make their apertures 5 face inthe opposite direction and a new series of alternating shaping andcutting devices are inserted and held in the recesses of said holders bysaid screws 9. Such new series of wire reducing devices aresubstantially as those shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5, except that theiralternating plain and toothed aperturesare smaller in diameter. The wireon reel 16 is threaded therethrough and between the adjusting cylinders14, to be wound up on the reel 13, the

direction of belt 17 being reversed for this for shaving the scoredportion to produce a Wire in circular cross section of less diameterthan the diameter of the original Wire.

2. In a machine of the class described, an annular cutter havinginternal scoring teeth, an annular cutter having a plain scraping edge,and means for moving a wire, circular in cross section, longitudinallythrough said toothed cutter and subsequently through said plain cutter.

3. In a machine of the class described, a pair of reels for carrying thewire to be 0perated upon, means for rotating said reels to 'draw thewire from one reel to the other, two pairs of rotating corrugated rollsengaging the Wire between said reels, and a series of annular cuttersinterposed between said corrugated rolls.

4.. In a machine of the class described, a series of detachable cutterholders having circular recesses, annular cutters held in said recesses,and means for moving a wire circular in its cross section longitudinallythrough said cutters.

5. In a machine of the class described, a cutter for scoring the outersurface of a Wire, a cutter for scraping the wire, and means for movinga wire longitudinally past said cutters, comprising a pair of corrugatedrolls, means for pressing the rolls against the wire, and means forrotating said rolls.

FRANCIS A. PATON. HENRY L. KOENIG.

Witnessesz.

N ELLIE WHALEN, PENELOPE COMBERBACH.

